Posts Tagged ‘avalanche pizza’

In my almost forty years in restaurants, I’ve never had as much fun as being sous chef to a bunch of kids. This summer, I teamed up with Jan and Kip, the managers of the Athens Farmers Market to show these youngsters how to make pizza in a high-heat oven. They amazed me at their culinary prowess and insight to make their best pizza creations- (In fact the only one who dropped their pizza ((twice)) was me.)

Thumbs up for a pepperoni pie…

Game Changer: Nothing compliments pepperoni more than…meatballs!

and nothing brings a smile to a kids face more than tossing a dough.

Here’s a beautiful pizza in a non-traditional form just the way it was meant to be made!

From forming the crust…

to loading the oven fast and confidently…

…these great pizza makers really brought their “A” game.

That’s right, check this great pie out!

But more than the pizza, nothing beats the look of a kid who knows they just made a killer pizza!

So adieu until next summer my excellent pizza chefs, keep firing up those delicious pizzas!

A special thanks to Kip and Jan, some real special people who run the Athens Farmers Market and to Torrey and Dane, you guys rock!

Can you believe a kid made this pie? Newsflash to all you so-called “pizza aficionado’s”, get ready, this younger generation is gonna drop a pizza bomb on you someday!

I love eggs, but in my busy schedule I’d neglected to post one of my successful and non-conformist pizzas that I made in April. It was an ode to spring with those little orbs of life that bring so much flavor to a great pizza. Let me tell you how this delicious monster was constructed!

I decided to make a long schiacciata of naturally leavened, high-protein dough made with Manitoba wheat, then made a mozzarella egg, (Just like the one I posted earlier) chicken skin bacon, Osetra and salmon caviar with Teleggio cheese and sweet, pungent spring ramp leaves. I then topped it in Sardinian fashion with grated Bottarga di Muggine; the dried egg sack from the grey mullet. It was once known as the poor mans caviar and has that wonderful whip-crack of umami you get with salty caviar and is particularly delightful on wheat, either pasta or, in this case, a pizza.

This is the time for all you pizza bloggers, purists and know-it-all “seafood doesn’t belong on pizza” scumbags to just go away. I love seafood on pizza and with cheese. Life is good, you are haters and no one likes you. Ha!

It took a lot of strength to hold myself back from dipping into the caviar while taking this picture.

I bake off hundreds of pounds of local, King Family Farm chicken each week at Avalanche Pizza Bakers and subsequently have a lot of chicken skin on hand. To make the chicken skin bacon, pre-heat an oven to 475. Take the cooked chicken skin off making sure to get as big a piece as possible, season with paprika, Chinese five spice powder, garlic powder, coloratura (Sicilian garum or Thai fish sauce), fine pepper and a little salt to taste. Adding a little teriyaki will produce a very nice char on the skin, just be careful not to overcook. Put the seasoned skin on a parchment lined tray and place another sheet of parchment on top of the skin, then weigh down with another similar tray and place two to three aluminum foil bricks on top. I have many trays in my pizzeria and just pile four trays on top. Cook in the oven for only 8 to 12 minutes. Keep taking a peek so as not to burn it. When nicely “baconized”, cut with scissors to resemble bacon.

Now for the Mozzarella egg. Pre-heat the oven to 475, (or do this while the chicken skin bacon is cooking) Using fresh mozzarella from a log instead of mozzarella in brine, cut several pieces and overlap on parchment pressing down to form an oval the size of a Hobbits hand. Quickly heat up the mozzarella and press again once hot. When just melted, push an indent into the lower middle, crack and egg and place the yolk in the indent. Using a spatula, pull the top over the bottom and lightly press down to shut. Let cool and judge just how much it looks like a cooked egg! Or see just how much you have screwed it up and try again.

Using a 20 ounce dough ball, bang out an oval. This may take some time but let the dough proof in between pulling. You will get there eventually. Place the Teleggio and chopped ramps on the dough and place in a 550 degree oven. If you are doing this at home, try to get your oven up to 500 with either a pizza stone or a preheated, upturned, heavy cookie sheet on the middle rack. Use parchment to transfer the pizza to the sheet pan.

Cook for 12 to 14 minutes until cooked. Take out of the oven and place the cooled mozzarella eggs on the schiacciata. Put this back in the oven for two to three minutes. DO NOT COOK THIS TOO LONG OR THE MOZZARELLA WILL SLIDE OFF THE YOLK!

When the mozzarella egg has sufficiently warmed and the pizza is cooked, place the chicken skin bacon, caviar and microplane the Bottarga on the pizza…

…cut into the mozza egg and have an ooze-tastic taste of eggsistential delight.